have to agree with you payno. Its been used to justify twist on sails, but its not the reason twist is important. In fact Tom Chalko did some wind shear measurements recently at Sandy Pt and found it was a non-issue.

In some places though, wind shear does become noticable- when there is a flow separation from a nearby upwind object. Sailing behind a rock wall is a good example... Lots of wind up top, but nothing down low. So you have to tune your sail to get the most out of it.

Kris, wave boards can work pretty well in the right conditions. Daffy and Spotty have push their boards to 40kts. Not sure what fins their using with those boards. The seceret is to be in tune and comfortable with what your using before exploring the limit.In regards to "how well do they point with speed fins" Speed fins don,t point they just go fast off the wind.Try a freeride slalom fin first before investing in a speed fin. Hope this helps

The problem is the lift alot of slalom fins generate combined that you're feet are in the middle can give you very sore ankles, plus that there just are not too many slalom/speed fins left for US box boards. To go upwind leave back foot out of strap and over more on rail lets you push on fin a bit more and keeps the ankles from screaming.

Around here in windy conditions alot of people would probably go just as fast on a waveboard as you dont have to worry about the water state as much and they are easy to keep trimmed well. Of the 3 waveboards I have I would pit 2 of them against slalom boards anyday in 20knots+ on the bay (with slalom sail/fin). That said the 3rd is very classic sideshore board which is slow, so stick to freewaves which have a slightly straighter rocker.

For out and out speed on a speed strip I dont know, can you trust a US fin enough to be doing 40knots?

URGENT QUESTION:

I want to go and check out Hardies Run or at least somewhere on the Estuary this afternoon to get an idea of its suitability for speed kiting. Where is it? Had a quick look here and there through the speedsailing forum but didn't see, if someone could post in the next half hour or so I could get on my bike and head.

Cheers.

the east port site is best on the nth side of cut.

Loaned my GPS to one of our local kiters who put in 66kmh runs there on his first attempt at speed sailing.

Ooh ooh, exciting! So I just got home, clocked up about 300km on the bike checking out Woodies, Safety Bay and Novara Boat Ramp (thanks to poor rellies info relay).

That pm about the ice ramp is on the way. I think we might see Perth on the international map for speed kiting soon, if it's as good as you say...!

I spent some time looking around and have found out very little on the web about what speed fins may suite super-x / free race/ slalom boards. One supplier has recommended that I use slalom fins to get the most from my board as speed fins wont provide enough lift for the board
I think more to the point is to chose the correct size, as a few of the manufacturers class their fins as speed/slalom or slalom for high speed. The suppliers are recommending 30 cm for a 6 m sail and 28 cm for 5 metre sail, however I was of the opinion of using a fin just large enough not to spin out, which I think may be the best approach for sailing off the wind and perhaps not a square course.
From the Martin van Meurs article " .........fin as small as possible without getting spin-outs..........."

The following fins seem to be classed as slalom or speed/slalom, so I'll probably end up with something like these

Tectonics Falcon
Meanline Bjorn Dunkerbeck
Starboard Drake SR6b
Select Viper Slam

Am I on the right track here ? Perhaps someone can put me on the right track if I am not

If you want to have a read of full on tech fin discussion then check this out, this is a bit to techo for me
www.gps-speedsurfing.com/default.aspx?mnu=forum&forum=1&val=3165

I also checked out rankings on gps-speedsurfing and the below fins were used for speeds posted above 40 knots. I realise that you need to consider the whole kit, but non the less these fins are all capable of very high speeds. Almost all boards used are Speed, but here are a few slaloms as well.

F2 Proto speed
KA McDougall Lockwood Assy
Tectonics F1 Falcon
Time Machine TM45V7
Custom KA Mcdougall lockwood
C3 X2
Deboichet Upwind
BWF 250/240 @13 #3
Custom Lockwood-McDougal
Starboard Drake Speed SR6b 230
Custom Styrotech custom G10
Time Machine TM45V6
Time Machine TM45v3
Kai Hopf ( K66 Fin ) SCL 28A
Kai Hopf Meanline Fin System
Custom selfmade
Select Lightning Speed
Deboichet Downwind
Starboard Drake SR6b
Vector Fins EX
KA McDougall Lockwood Sym Speed/Slalom
Select Lightning EVO
Lessacher B + F Speed
F2 missile s (design kai hopf)
Select Speed

Thanks Justin, do you need to buy the Tectonics off the web or is there a reseller in Brissie ?

quote:

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Originally posted by Haggar

Thanks Justin, do you need to buy the Tectonics off the web or is there a reseller in Brissie ?

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off the web is the go. they are relatively expensive though. i just wait until something cheaper and 2nd hand becomes available.

end of race season there should be some floating around. don't just limit yourself to the falcons though. they are all very good.

Haggar, Is that board tuttle box? I have a few you can try if you like. I have found so far I go faster on a 34 cm fin than 29 or 31 with 6.5. The 31 cm is new and sitting there not getting used as I always take out the 29 or 34. You are welcome to try it for a while and see if that size is too small. I don't care if you run aground so no worries.

quote:

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Originally posted by Gestalt

quote:

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Originally posted by Haggar

Thanks Justin, do you need to buy the Tectonics off the web or is there a reseller in Brissie ?

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off the web is the go. they are relatively expensive though. i just wait until something cheaper and 2nd hand becomes available.

end of race season there should be some floating around. don't just limit yourself to the falcons though. they are all very good.

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Gestalt, do you know the url for tectonics?

Tried googling and came up with squat.

Cheers